Every business has a story. Every entrepreneur has a story. Every leader has a story. Let multi-faceted communicator, speaker, and speaking coach David Otey show you how to use your story to increase your influence, grow your business, and create more powerful connections than you ever thought possible.

Fee Range: $2,500 - $5,000
Travels from Great Falls, MT, Montana (US)

For more information about booking David Otey, visithttp://www.speakermatch.com/profile/DavidOtey

Every business has a story. Every entrepreneur has a story. Every leader has a story. Let multi-faceted communicator, speaker, and speaking coach David Otey show you how to use your story to increase your influence, grow your business, and create more powerful connections than you ever thought possible.

Fee Range: $2,500 - $5,000
Travels from
Great Falls, MT

David Otey - Motivational Speaker" />

David Otey

Speaking of Solutions LLC

Expert in both the Art and Science of Being Heard

Every business has a story. Every entrepreneur has a story. Every leader has a story. Let multi-faceted communicator, speaker, and speaking coach David Otey show you how to use your story to increase your influence, grow your business, and create more powerful connections than you ever thought possible.

Fee Range: $2,500 - $5,000Travels from:Great Falls, MT

For more information about booking David Otey, Visit
http://www.speakermatch.com/profile/DavidOtey/Or call SpeakerMatch at 1-866-372-8768.

Congratulations:
you've sufficiently overcome your fear of public speaking to get up in front of
an audience and give that presentation you've been practicing. But wait! Now
there is a whole new source of anxiety awaiting you: the dreaded question-and-answer
(Q&A) session, where many a train of thought has completely derailed. The
very nature of Q&A implies some lessening of control on the part of the
speaker, and that can be scary. The good news is that a well-handled Q&A
can enhance the audience's perception of you as an expert. If you keep these
five tips in mind, youre much more likely to keep your audience engaged and
impress them with your poise and expertise.

1. Never ask, "Are there any questions?" This question puts your listeners on the spot;
especially if it comes at the end of the presentation. Instead, always assume
there are questions, and elicit them thus: "This would be a good spot for me
to pause and take some of your questions. Who has the first one, to get us
started?"

2. When you've
asked for questions, shut up! Dont restate anything, or add a thought you
suddenly remembered. Create silence and make it clear by your body language and
probing eye contact that that silence will only be filled by someone in the
audience asking a question. Count silently to yourself, "One, one thousand,
two, one thousand..." and be prepared to wait for ten seconds for someone to speak up. Ten seconds sounds like
nothing, but it is an uncomfortably long time -- someone is bound to speak up
before then. (Watch and count next time you see a speaker ask for questions;
hardly anyone waits for more than two or three seconds for a response.)

3. In the
unlikely event that no one has spoken up after you've waited ten seconds -- or
if you just can't wait that long (it takes practice!) -- you must then defuse
the tension by asking a question yourself, using this technique: say, "A
question I am often asked at this point is..." and proceed to ask and answer your
own question. Make it real, and make it relevant. You will need to have this
question in mind before you start. This technique is preferable to "planting" a
question with an audience member. Once youve asked and answered your own
question, ask, "Now who has the next one?" and you should be able to get the
ball rolling.

4. Regardless of
the audience size or the room acoustics, it is best to develop the habit of
always repeating (or, if necessary, restating) a question before you answer it.
If the room is large, this is essential -- especially if you are using a
microphone. If you dont repeat the question, you are excluding those who
didnt hear it clearly from the discussion at the very time that you are
supposed to be engaging them. Even if acoustics aren't the issue, there are
three other reasons why you should always repeat the question: (1) Doing so
honors the person who asked it by demonstrating active listening. (2) Restating
ensures that you have understood the question accurately. (3) The few seconds
it takes to restate a question will help you in formulating your best answer.

5. Never finish
with Q&A. In a long informative presentation or workshop, you probably need
to pause for Q&A after 15 or 20 minutes, or possibly less. Build time for
these sessions into your overall plan. This ensures you haven't lost people in
the first ten minutes of a 45-minute session because of a question you didn't
solicit and answer. Even in a short presentation where you only do a single
Q&A session near the end, don't make it the very last thing. Always save your
prepared conclusion for after the Q&A. What do people most remember? The
first impression and the last thing you say. You never want that last thing to
be, "If there are no more questions, then thank you very much." That's lame.

Now, who has the
first question?

Originally published on March 21, 2012 by SpeakerMatch Speakers Bureau